The present invention is drawn to an apparatus and method for providing live display of aircraft flight information. More particularly, it is drawn to integrating an airport terminal display of flight information with an accurate map display of aircraft location from technology based on secondary surveillance radar interrogation using dual frequencies.
Recently, airline passengers have become disillusioned with the quality of airline information. Events, such as the January 1999 stranding of passengers for 8 hours on a Detroit runway, have highlighted the fact that there is no existing way to convey true operational explanations quickly and directly. Although the city of Detroit""s failure to plow side streets was ultimately to blame for the January 1999 incident, airlines are usually blamed for delays, no matter what the true cause may be. An information vacuum breeds speculationxe2x80x94and worse. The state of passenger information in commercial air travel has deteriorated to the point to where the United States Congress has initiated hearings on a Passenger""s Bill of Rights.
It is an object of the invention to provide a gate-area information display that communicates live operational flight information to passengers.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a passenger information system with full disclosure about flight delays and the cause of the delays.
It is another object of the invention to provide a passenger information system with accurate and timely updating of information when conditions change.
It is another object of the present passenger information invention to provide a context for passengers to understand factors affecting schedules.
It is yet another object of the present passenger information invention to provide a quick and simple solution to an airline""s task of informing passengers, thereby allowing airline personnel to perform their other duties.
It is an object of the present passenger information invention to provide a new tool to airlines to enhance customer and public relations.
It is a further object of the invention to display real-time, accurate, and unfiltered flight information to passengers based on secondary surveillance radar interrogation using dual frequencies.